It will make the fortune of the poor devil who finds it."-- "So that you have none ?" "Oh, there are plenty in Paris, cap de Bious! I will buy a more magnificent one, and put in it a still larger diamond." The officer shrugged his shoulders slightly, and said, "Have you a card ?" "Certainly I have one--or rather two." "One is enough, if it be the right one." "But it cannot be wrong--oh, no, cap de Bious! Is it to M.de Loignac that I have the honor of speaking ?" "It is possible," said the officer coldly, and evidently not much charmed at the recognition.
"M.

de Loignac, my compatriot ?" "I do not say no." "My cousin!" "Good! Your card ?" "Here it is;" and the Gascon drew out the half of a card, carefully cut.
"Follow me," said De Loignac, without looking at it, "and your companions, if you have any.

We will verify the admissions." The Gascon obeyed, and five other gentlemen followed him.

The first was adorned with a magnificent cuirass, so marvelous in its work that it seemed as if it had come out of the hands of Benvenuto Cellini.

However, as the make of this cuirass was somewhat old-fashioned, its magnificence attracted more laughter than admiration; and it is true that no other part of the costume of the individual in question corresponded with this magnificence.